Complete care turn around time?

My wife had a D430 die on her last month. It was still under the next business day on site warranty. But Dell insisted we ship it back to them for repairs.

We opened the support case on April 13th. They sent us a box overnight, we shipped the laptop back to them. They emailed on April 26th (13 days later on a next business day warranty) that the machine is beyond repair and they will replace it under complete care.

So I receive a package from Dell on April 27th, thinking it was the replacement. But no, it was the dead hard drive fro her old machine. for some reason they shipped it back to us.

Still no news from them on when we can expect to receive a replacement system. Also the online support status page now can't find our support case either by service tag, or case #. and the warranty page shows the service tag does not have any valid warranty associated with it anymore. (it was under warranty until September of this year).

Anyone else have experience with Dell warranty and complete care? Why is it taking so long to get a replacement. What's the good of paying for next business day on-site warranty if they can't guarantee they will take care of the problem by the next business day?

Thanks!

 

Next business day is only for parts/service. It can take up to two weeks to fully process. If you have your service tag, you can call back in for status.

It can take that long because they base the replacement off of what refurbished systems are in stock. If there isn't a comparable system in stock, they order a new replacement.

There should be three different reference numbers: case number, dispatch number, and order number.

You won't see an order number until it is fully processed, but once you have that, you can track the system online. Note: You will also need your customer number for that. You can get it from the tech you speak to.

Chances are, you got an email with at least the dispatch number. Check your junk mail folder.

 

Thanks!

Currently only have the Service Request # from the original support call.

Haven't received anything else yet.

There are several D430's in the outlet that matches the exact spec. so not sure why they haven't processed it yet.

Maybe if I'm lucky they'll send a E4200 instead.

 

Finally heard back from them. Apparently they said the delay is due to them ordering me a new system.

They said there isn't a machine in the outlet that matched the specs of my old system. (I thought that's kind of odd as I see several D430's in the outlet that were identical to my old machine, and several E4200's that have better specs then my old machine but cost less than the D430's).

anyway, they ordered me a new E4200, with a slightly faster processor (1.6 vs 1.2), and a 128gb SSD vs 80gb HD. other specs are pretty much the same.

I wonder if it will have the remainder of the warranty of my old machine, or if it will come with its own 3 year warranty. If it only has the remaining few months of the old machine, maybe they will let me extend it for a small fee.

So it appears complete care is pretty nice. (especially when you have a 2 year old kid that loves to pounce around on your laptop).